When it rains it pours! I arrived in Franz Josef village, the home of the glacier of same name yesterday morning. The weather has taken a turn to climes more reminiscent of Ireland and the UK which has meant I have sadly been unable to do the ice explorer glacier climb. I have been lucky enough however to find a space between the raindrops to do the glacier valley walks taking me to within a few metres of the terminal face of the glacier. For those uninterested in my philosophical ramblings, turn back now I have ye warned! A good friend of mine recently said to me that she reckons that the feeling of always searching for something more that we have almost generally as a society today is down to our loss of connection with nature. I thought about this a lot on my walk yesterday and how true I think it rings, well for me at least. As much excitement as I have for the Coast and the entertainment it supplies for an inland girl like me, I think yesterday confirmed the fact that mountains hold the most fascination for me. In folklore and fantasy mountains have always been a symbol of mysticism of sorts, the things we can't see, the heights we can't always reach, all of the unknowns. Yesterday I felt like a child again in front of that glacier with mountains all around. At that moment I think I really understood how being that in awe of nature makes you feel like there's nothing else to need or want for. For this reason and despite the torrential rains I think this has been my favourite stop so far. I'm only sad that I didn't get to climb it this time but maybe we don't have to conquer everything to appreciate its beauty. Maybe this is something generations before us would have wished us to realise before these beautiful natural creations started retreating in front of our eyes.